Afghan authorities say they have launched an investigation into allegations that two election commissions misused their authority during last year’s general elections. The country’s Attorney General’s Office announced the investigation late on February 12, after all 12 members of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) were dismissed for allegedly abusing their authority. The seven IEC officials and five IECC staff were also barred from leaving the country, the office said in a statement. The electoral officials were heavily criticized following the October parliamentary polls, which were marred by inefficiencies including absent electoral staff and missing voting materials. Final results for all 15 provinces are yet to be announced.
The moves also come ahead of the country’s presidential election set for July.
Earlier on February 12, the presidents office announced that all IEC and IECC commissioners had been dismissed following amendments to the election law signed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Ghanis chief adviser, Fazel Fazly, tweeted that the changed had been discussed and endorsed by ‘all presidential candidates, political parties, and election observer groups.’
Full Article: Afghanistan Investigating Fired Electoral Officials.
